Agenda - Council Work Session - 04/20/2021 - Special

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Commissioner Anderson asked why the City is left to wait until August for the next City Councilmember to be elected. City Clerk Thieling stated that if the Charter were amended to follow State language the City could have possibly met the February date, but would certainly have hit the April date. Chairperson Field asked how the City has a Charter section that conflicts to this level with the State law. City Attorney Langel stated that he was unsure when the provision was added. He stated that State election law is changed on a fairly frequent basis and a lot of the Charters have not been modified along with those changes, which creates these conflicting issues. He stated that the options would be to remove primaries entirely or at least remove the need for primaries in special elections. He stated that he would also recommend streamlining the language to simplify and remove conflicting language. Commissioner Anderson stated that currently there is a provision within the Charter which requires a special election when a Councilmember moves. City Attorney Langel stated that there is language within State law that specifies when a special election must be held, dependent upon the length of the remaining term, otherwise appointment could be made to fill the vacancy. He continued to review sections of Chapter 4, highlighting language which he would recommend removing because it is unnecessary, duplicative, or conflicting with State law. He stated that the goal would be to streamline the language and process without taking anything substantive away from the City. He explained that things are easier if everyone is on the same page, rather than having five different cities with five different election processes. He noted that it is easier for City staff to use the resource of Anoka County, if they are talking about the same processes. Chairperson Field stated that it seems that there are three categories for the proposed changes to the Charter which would be duplicative language, language that conflicts with the State law, and areas of discretion. He asked City Attorney Langel to identify which category the proposed changes fall within. City Attorney Langel continued to review the sections of Chapter 4, identifying whether the proposed change would be duplicative, conflicting with State law, or an area of discretion. Chairperson Field stated that section 4.4 contains both special and advisory elections, noting that while special elections are a required element, advisory elections are not necessary. He p commented that there seem to be faults in an advisory election as that would simply be equal to a public polling. Commissioner Leistico asked if an advisory election would be combined with a general election or whether that would be similar to a special election process, as that would make a difference in the cost and effort. Charter Commission/ February 13, 2019 Page 4 of 11